Cotton separator and renovator



Feb. 24, 1925. 1,527,859

J. C. GARNER -COTTON SEPARATOR AND RENOVATOR original F11 d Feb. z. 1920 s sheetsfshet 1 Feb. 24, 1925. 1,527,859

, J, c. GARNI-:R A

COTTON SEPARAT'OR ND RENOVATOR Original Filed Feb. 5. 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Manly Feb.- 24, 1925. y

J. C. GARNER COTTON SEPARATOR AND'RL'l/NOVATORy l briginal Filedrebl 5,'1920 y'3.sheets-sheety a Patented Feb. 24, 1925.

UNITED-.STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JaivriisA c. GARNER; or Housrony'rmzas.

Application led Feliruary 3, 1920, lSerial No. 355,931.

Tov a?! whom t may concer/lt:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. Gaiman, a citizen of the United States, residing at Houston, in the county ot" Harris and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton Scparators and Renovators, of which the following, is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to improvements in mechanism for treating` cotton and preparing it for the market; particularly cotton which for one reason or another is classed as ot a low grade. Large masses ot such interior grade are brougl'itto central points after they have been treated in gins, at more or less distant places, rin the 'farming territory. Other masses come from warehouses, sampling places. or compress mills. Some comes in loose torni; some in bales. In every case some will be et one' color: some ofanother. Any given bale may contain' masses ot lighter colored grade,andothers of darker color. A large proportion of any such, mass is composed' of fibers, each of which has at one time or another beenyas` an individual, separate-d from the Vothers adjacent to it: these including i'ibers which' are of goed color and luster and also fibers whose color has been deteriorated by mildew or other cause. But intermingled with the separated or individualized fibers (some ot superior, some of interior color) in such masses are large numbers of metes (undeveloped seeds with more or less lint attached) and` clots or lumps or.' fibers which have never been disintegrated or separated one trom the other. And in addition tothe three specilied component-s of such amass, there will be also intermingled large numbers of earthy particles, sand, grit, and the like, and numerous minute pieces ot stalks, stems, leaves or trash.

The object of the present invention is` to.

provide a mechanism which will remove the individualized or already separated. tibers, in a mass such as aforesaid, iirst 'from' the hard particles or objects mentioned as particles oit' earth. sand, grit, stalks, leaves and the like), and trom, secondly, the metes and the clots or small lumps of nonedisintegrated fibers; and return the latter to the point of initial treatment again and again until all of the fibers in the initial massha've been separated one then taken out as the desirable product.

'from the others, and' Renewed July 18, 1923.

such way .Fig 6 is a section on theline 6-6 of F ig. 'l'.

Fig. 7 is an elevation of ak belt tightening device.

Fig. 8 is a view fan being shown' in Fig. F ig. 8.

Fig. 10 shows on-e oit' the saw blades, or sections, detached.

. Fig. 11 is an edge view ot' the same.

Fig. 12 is a tacer yview oi" one of the. seg* ments orhub elements of the saw cylinder.

Fig. 13 is a sideview of a series or' the saw carrying hub segments.

`F ig. 14 is a transverse section ot the saw cylinder.

Fig. 15is a side view olf' the two end parts of the saw cylinder with their elementsassembled.

Fig. 16 is a section on the line 16-1G ot Fig. 17. l

Fig. 17 is a' section on the line 17-17 ot' Fig. 16.

Fig. 18 shows the worm and worm wheel in the train transmitting power 'to the 'feed rolls. Y

Fig. 19 is a sectionof the reversing devices taken on the line 19-19 of Fig, 20.

Fig. 2O shows the casing for the Areversing gear and the lever' attachment.

Fig. 21 shows' the clutch connection for the reversing lever.`

The operative parts ot' the mechanism are supported on a frame-work and within a housing. The trame comprises uprights 2, 2 of a suitable numbertogether with longitu` dinal bars 3, 4, properly disposed to give effectual support. To the frame are fastened end walls 5,76.

In the upper part ot' the structure a hopper is provided at 7,.whichcan be extended upward if desired as indicated at 8, and into of the fan casing, the dotted lines. 9 is al section on the line 9;-9 of this the material is initially delivered. The front wall 25 of this hopper is supported by a hinge at 26 mounted in the side walls. And it can be adjusted in position and secured by fastening devices at 28.

In the lower part or mouth of the hopper are feed rolls 43 and 44. The devices by which these are mounted and actuated will be 'described below.

Immediately below the feed rolls is positioned the gin saw cylinder, indicated as an entirety by 37. Its component elements are carried by the shaft 38 mounted in suitable bearings supported on the framework. To this shaft is fitted and keyed an elongated hub 38a having a surface which is polygonal, preferably octago-nal, in section. @n this hub are fitted ring-like segments 40. Each is composed of a plurality, here eight, integral sections 40a, each section being offset, axially, in relation to the sections next adjacent to it. And the radial faces (right and left) of each section lie in radial planes other than the planes of the faces of the adjacent sections. The large central aperture of each of these ring-like segments 40 is polygonal in correspondence with the solid central hub 38a.

39, 39 indicate the sectional saw blades. Each is formed with a main tapering plate part 39a, 39D. The part 39a fits in one of the radial recesses 401 in one of the ring Asections 40. The part 39D extends outwardly beyond the periphery of the ring or washer' section. Each solid section has a peripheral projection at 39d and at the opposite edge is cut away somewhat as at 39e. At the inner edge each has a lip flange 41 extending at right angles to the plane of the saw. These lip flanges 4l are of such thickness that a circular series of eight of the saw sections can be positioned around the axis and have the flanges 4i rest upon the liat faces of the hub 88', each of the washer rings or clamps 40 being adapted to be fitted into position and surround the series of flanges 41 pressing them tightly against the hub 38a, and thus firmly and securely holding all of the circular series of saw sections in position and prevent them from flying or moving outward or radially away from the axis. j

Becauseof this radially stepped or offset relationship, in positions, of the saw sections in each circular series provision is made for having a complete cylinder generated by the saw teeth. That is to say, any straight line parallel to the axis and at a distance equal to the radius of the saw teeth will have each of its points intersected by a long series of teeth at each rotation of the cylinder.

All of the component parts are firmly bound together by nuts 42 engaging with threads on the shaft 38,

The material from the hopper 7 is by the feed rolls 43, 44, formed into a compact web. As it moves down from the contact lines of Athe feed rolls this web is immediately presented, along a line parallel to the axis of the gin cylinder. A large number of teeth pass through each point of this line at each 'revoluti on of the cylinder and the latter is ro-tated at high speed.

The web of material may be regarded as composed of (firstl individual lint fibers more or less separated from its neighbors, (2nd) small clots or lumps each comprising a large number of fibers which have never `been separated one from the other, but which are susceptible of such separation, (3rd) motes small objects disseminated through cotton masses and supposed to be imperfectly developed seeds or growths, (4th) small pieces of stalks, stems and leaves which have become intermingled with the cotton fibers, and (5th) particles of earthy matter, grains of sand, and the like.

hen the rapidly rotating saw teeth impinge upon the extreme edge part of the down forced web the already separated or loosened lint fibers are one by one rapidly caught by the teeth and cannot escape therefrom. They slip into the recesses 39g be tween the teeth 39, matting tangentially inward, as indicated at 39% Fig. 10. Those caught at points adjacent the feed rolls are instantly thereafter, at nearly the termination of a rotation, removed by the dothng devices Bodies of the other four classes above specified (small fiber clots, small metes, minute stein pieces and grains of earth or sand) are thus instantly separated from the valuable lint fibers which are carried away by the teeth. The latter, with their high velocity, strike these small objects and drive them forcibly outward tangentially. Those that are driven with the most force impinge on a curved imperforate breast plate 32, these generally being the heavier sand grains, earthy particles and the like. The motes are not driven so violently and impinge upon an inner concave perforated breast plate 29. They pass through the perforations and are collected in a trough 34 together with the particles of foreign materials which are deflected downward by the outer breast plate 32.

The small clots or lumps of more or less tightly wound fibers tend to be also caught by the points of the cylinder teeth and to be carried around by them together with the desired fibers. In order to stop their passing completely around, a picker roll 5l is positioned below the saw cylinder, where its teeth can catch the lumps or clots adhering to and projecting beyond vthe surface of the cylinder,V This picker roll rotates, as will be' described,- in direction opposite to that of the' rotation of the saw cylinder wir" beltk 49(2 which engages with the pulley 54a on the shaft of fan 54.

39a is a small pulley on the end of the cylinder shaft 38 and this by means of belt 67 drives a pulley 68 on the end of shaft 68a. This shaft extends into a gear box 69 and carries a bevel wheel 70. The latter engages with two loose opposite bevels 71 and 7 2 on shaft 75. A clutch 73 can engage at option with either bevel 71 or 72. The bevel 72 is connected to a smaller bevel 7 6 which in turn engages with and drives the bevel 77.

The shaft 77a of this wheel extends outward and carries a sprocket wheel 78 which through chain 79 rotates the sprocket wheel 80 on the shaft 51rl of the picker roll second chain 81 is driven from the roll shaft and, in turn, drives the shaft 35a of the conveyer 35.

The clutch 73 is shifted by the lever 74 mounted on the gear box and accessible at the front of the machine.

The feeding rolls 43 and 44 are driven with optionally variable speeds. The shaft 75 extends to the rear of the machine and carries a three-speed belt pulley 90. 9l is a belt extending upward to a three-speed pulley 92. This is on the end of a shaft 92aA which is mounted in a swinging bearing` 95, the bearing being adjustable by turn buckle devices having the rods 96 and 98 pivoted, one to the machine frame, and the other to the bearing, together with the threaded adjuster 97. The bearing element 95 for the shaft 92 swings around the axis of a shaft 94 mounted in bearings 94a on the frame. The shaft 94 is driven by gears 92b and-92c, and extends towards the front of the machine and into the gear box 941. It carries a worm 101 which engages with a worm wheel 102 on a short shaft 103. This shaft also carries a spur gear 83 which meshes with al wheel 84, that is keyed to the shaft of the feed roll 43, and meshes also with an idler gear 86a. 85 is a swinging bearing carrier pivoted on the axis ofthe idler gear 86, and at its lower end supporting the other feed roll 44, the latter having a pinion 88 meshing with the idler gear 86a. The swinging bearing carrier 85 is normally held in a predetermined position by a rod 86 and spring 87; but the spring` permits the bearing and the feed roll 44 to yield away from the roll 43 when demanded by the material which is passing between the rolls; the swinging roll, however, being constantly positively driven by the power.

The manner in which the machine is used will be readily understood. The masses of cotton with the intermingled foreign materials, above described, Aare delivered to the hopper 7 either in the form of a continuous bat or more of less miscellaneously. The rolls feed the mass downward asa continuous bat. The teeth of the rapidly rotating gin cylinder il'npinge on the articles at the L t 1 f1 ont exti emity of the oat. They catch each yseparate individual fiber and positively engage with it and carry all of the. fibers around on .the edge of the saw.

The small solid particles (which are intermingled with the cotton in the advancing bat) are freed when the lint fibers are caught by the teeth and pulled from the bat and carried swiftly away from these particles; the latter being particles of' earth and sand or similar materials. And simultaneously, the small pieces of stalks, leaves, and similar trash, are freed as the individual fibers are. carried away by the teeth. But such particles are simultaneously struck by the cylinder teeth and are projected forward by their blows; and the devices of the mechanism are adjusted to permit particles of the sort just referred to to pass over the upper edges of the inner breast plate and be caught by or impinge on the outer breast plate, and the latter defiects them or turns them downward toward the trough 34.

The bodies of the other two classes above specied (motes, and the small clots or lumps of non-disintegrated fiber) are also freed more or less from the instant that the rapidly moving teeth catch and carry away the separated fibers; but these metes and clots are not driven so far forward by the cylinder teeth. They are carried downward more directly and pass into the space between the saw cylinder and the inner breast plate 29. The motes, as they pass down, tend to sieve through the perforations in the breast plate 29 and accumulate with the earthy and other particles in the trough 34.

,The clots or small'lumps of intertangled fibers tend to remain outside the circles of rotation of the points of the teeth, though many of them are caught by the extreme tooth points, while others work downward through the channel inside of the breast plate and more or less free from the saw. In either case the teeth of the picker 'roll 15 catch them; those that are adhering to the saw tooth points being removed by the picker although held for an instant to permit disintegration of the fibers; and after removal they are dropped into the passageway through which theyare carried back to the initial hopper to again pass through the machine for further disintegration. Those clots which tend to move down outside the circles of the tooth points finally reach the picker rolls at the lower edge of the breast plate and the roll teeth carry them up and through the narrow space below the saw cylinder where disintegration, more or less, occurs and the residues of the clots are returned, as aforesaid.

The continuing of the operation of the machine finally results in the producing of two masses, the one being the mass of separated or individualized fibers, and the other being the mass of grit, sand, earthy particles and small pieces of trash, together with the motes The first of these masses has the fibers so thoroughly and homogeneously intermingled that the result-ing body is one of a ygrade uniformly high in cleanliness, color rand luster.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine for separat-ing and cleaning cotton fibers and improving the grade of masses of such fibers, the combination of the Vbat-forining and gripping feed rolls` a toothed cylinder immediately below said rolls, having fiber-catching teeth arranged to engage with the fibers at the forward edge of the web gripped by the rolls and to project grains and particles of foreign matter laterally outward, means for collecting and separately delivering said foreign particles, means for removing the separated lint fibers caught by the cylinder teeth, means for talring away from the cylinder the small clots of unseparated fibers and preventing them from again commingling with the said foreign grains or particles, and means for returning the said clots to the feed rolls.

2. In a machine for separating` and clean ing cotton fibers and improving the grade of masses of such fibers, the combination of a cylinder having fiber catching teeth so positioned and of such number as to generate when rotating a complete cylinder, means for feeding a bat and holding it rigid at points near the cylinder, means for removing the separated fibers which are caught in the teeth, means engaging` with the small masses of unseparated fiber and advancing such masses first toward and then away from such teeth, means for forming` a chamber immediately adjacent the cylinder teeth to receive motes and small masses of unseparated fiber, means for forming a second chamber outside of that aforesaid for receiving foreign particles separated from the cotton, a wall for separating` the said chambers and means for returning to the region of initial supply the said small masses of unseparated cotton.

3. In a machine for separating and cleaning cotton and improving its grade, the combination with feed rolls arranged to form a compact bat, a cylinder having teeth arranged to intersect all points of each transverse line of the approaching bat, a picker roll below and immediately adjacent the cylinder, a perforated concave breast wall having its lower wall close to the circle of rotation of the picker roll, an outer imperforate breast wall, a. hopper to which the picker roll delivers the non-disintegrated cotton, a trough and co-nveyer adjacent to said hopper arranged to receive the material from the outer breast wall Y and also that of masses of such fibers, the combination of an initial feed receptacle, feed rolls, a toothed cylinder', means for taking the small masses of unseparated cotton fibers from the cylinder and conveying them toward the initial feed receptacle, said means including a duct and a receiving chamber into which they are delivered from the duct, and means for pneimiatically screening said masses as they pass through said chamber.

5. In a machine for separating and clean ingcotton fibers and improving the grade of masses of such fibers, the. combination with feed rolls arranged to form a compact bat, a cylinder having teeth arranged to inter-sect all points of each transverse. line of the approaching bat, said teeth being in sets, all of the teeth of each set lying in a plane transverse to the cylinder axis and said plane being other than the transverse planes in which lie the teeth of the adjacent sets, a toothed picker roll below and immediately adjacent to the cylinder, an inner breast plate extending to a line near the periphery of the picker roll, an outer breast plate, a duct for carrying disintegrated cotton away from the picker roll, a. duct for carrying the lint fibers away from the cylinder, and a duct arranged to receive particles of material guided downward by the breast plate. (i. In a machine for separating and cleaning cotton fibers and improving the' grade of masses of such fibers, the combination of an initial receptacle, a toothed sa-w cylinder, means for finally removing from said cylinder the separated fibers caught thereon, means for removing from the cylinder small clot masses, means' for returning the said masses to the initial receptacle, a chamber through which said masses pass as they are returning, a perforated diaphragm in said chamber adjacent to the path of the said masses, and suction means for causing fine particles to pass through the said diaphragm.

7. In a machine for separating and cleaning cotton fibers and improving the grade of masses of such fibers, the combination of feed rolls, the saw cylinder arranged to project foreign particles laterally, a duct for receiving' said foreign particles and preventing them from again commingling with the cotton, a. picker roll, a doffer drum, a conveyer for receiving and taking away the partieles of material driven out of the cotton. mass by the impact of the saw teeth, a prime power device connected to the saw cylinder, and power transmitting devices connected with and actuated by the saw cylinder and connected to said picker roll, to said doifer drum and to said saw cylinder.

S. n a machine for separating and cleaning cotton fibers and improving the grade of masses of snch fibers, the combination of batforming and gripping feed means, a toothed cylinder immediately adjacent said means, having fiber-catching teeth arranged to engage with the libere at the forward edge. of the web gripped by the said feed means and adapted to project grains and particles of foreign matter outward, means for collecting and separately delivering said foreign particles, means positioned around the circm'nference of said cylinder for taking away from the cylinder the small clots of nnseparated fibers and preventing them from again commingling with said foreign grains or patricles, means for removing the separated lint fibers caught by the cylinder teeth, and means for returningt-he said slots to the feed means.

9. In ay machine for separating and cleaning cotton fibers and improving thel grade of masses of such fibers, the combination of feed rolls adapt-ed to form and advance a bat, a cylinder adjacent said rolls having liber-catching teeth which are arranged to generate in rotation a complete cylinder, means for collecting and separately delivering foreign particles which are thrown outward by said cylinder, means for taking away from the cylinder small clots of unseparated fibers and preventing them from again commingling with said foreign particles after the latter are once thrown outward by the cylinder, means for pneumatically returning said clots to the feed rollers, and means for removing the separated lint fibers caught on `the teeth of said cylinder.

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature.

JAMES C. GARNIER. 

